Garrett's Cheapskate Mod Shop: If You Love Some One, Part II

garrett

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The SE One is a great guitar. Among the best SE models made by PRS. Being a perpetual tinkerer, I've had a desire to get one and modify it. Now that I have bought one again and holiday weekend means too much time on my hands, I jumped right in.

The guitar photographs very well, but it's a beater really. A beater SE is a wonderful thing. They're such solid guitars and because they aren't worth much you don't have to worry too much about messing them up.

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A common mod with these is to add a tone control. A tone knob is one thing I missed about the One I owned before, so I'm going to add one.


The routing under the guard is a rectangle. The stock volume pot sits in that back corner.
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Most people seem to do this, which is to move the volume pot to the other corner of the cavity, and put a tone control in the stock volume slot. Easy peasy. All you need to do is drill a hole in the pickguard for the volume pot location. The controls are a bit tight, but workable.
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If you use a mini pot for the tone control, it buys you a little bit more space if you are willing to move the tone pot hole. The original hole will be at least mostly covered by the knob. You can get even more space if you use a mini pot for the volume. I will be using a full size PRS volume pot, so it would look something like this:
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If you are willing to remove some wood, you can gain a valuable 5/8" or so of extra room. This also means plugging the pickguard or getting a custom one made.
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It wouldn't be good reality entertainment without annoying pauses at the dramatic parts, so I will go over what happened in the next installment. Rest assured: there will be mods and I will be a cheapskate about it...
 
The choice was made: extend the routing to give more room for the controls. When I tested the control locations, it felt best having the tone knob moved back. Plus, visually, I think it looks a bit weird cramming the controls so close together when there's a good bit of open pickguard real estate.

Now, to pick the tools for the job. I don't have a router or a Dremel or even a chisel. I could buy stuff or pay someone to do it, but where's the fun in that? What I do have is free time, a drill, ball peen hammer and a slim flat head screwdriver. So I headed for the garage before I could talk myself out of it.

The result: it ain't exactly pretty, but not too bad actually. Under no circumstance would this have been suitable for anything NOT covered up, but I was just going for "good enough" here. I will redo the shielding anyway, so it will be double covered.

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I got a little carried away and cut into the screw hole for the pickguard. Wood glue and and a tooth pick. No prob.
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The other chunk I took out was bugging me. The pickguard will cover it, but I decided to fill it anyway. I don't even remember why I had this. Professional. Niiice.
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All better:
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It's back together in the stock configuration now, the horrors concealed beneath the pickguard. Awaiting some parts, and then I'll mod the guard and do some wiring.
 
seems like too much buildup for just a knob, specially if you already got the hammer and filler out.
 
If you ever decide to do this again, I recommend considering a concentric pot to get the tone functionality without the Frankenstein-ing. I’m lazy like that. :D
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It was crazy-easy and I spent most of my time formulating a tone circuit that gave me almost wah-level of tone sweep. This guitar yields the most wide grins I own...both on my face and anyone else that plays it. I’m betting that you’ll get the same, Garrett.

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If you ever decide to do this again, I recommend considering a concentric pot to get the tone functionality without the Frankenstein-ing. I’m lazy like that. :D
...
It was crazy-easy and I spent most of my time formulating a tone circuit hat gave me almost wah-level of tone sweep. This guitar yields the most wide grins I own...both on my face and anyone else that plays it. I’m betting that you’ll get the same, Garrett...

Very Cool!
I might have to find a beater!
 
If you ever decide to do this again, I recommend considering a concentric pot to get the tone functionality without the Frankenstein-ing. I’m lazy like that. :D
semods6.jpg


It was crazy-easy and I spent most of my time formulating a tone circuit hat gave me almost wah-level of tone sweep. This guitar yields the most wide grins I own...both on my face and anyone else that plays it. I’m betting that you’ll get the same, Garrett.

semods5.jpg

There's no adventure in that!

Seriously though, using concentric pots is a great solution. I'm just not fond of them. I like knobs with numbers and I'd be too prone to turning the wrong part of it by mistake.

Another idea I have considered is a three-way mini toggle with two different caps on it. That will give a couple more tonal flavors while being unobtrusive. But that's another compromise in functionality for me that I didn't want to make.

There is something special about these guitars. Maybe it's the single cutaway design and the minimal amount of routing. Whatever it is, they resonate in a very pleasing way!
 
There's no adventure in that!

Seriously though, using concentric pots is a great solution. I'm just not fond of them. I like knobs with numbers and I'd be too prone to turning the wrong part of it by mistake.

Another idea I have considered is a three-way mini toggle with two different caps on it. That will give a couple more tonal flavors while being unobtrusive. But that's another compromise in functionality for me that I didn't want to make.

There is something special about these guitars. Maybe it's the single cutaway design and the minimal amount of routing. Whatever it is, they resonate in a very pleasing way!
Amen, brutha! To me, this guitar is all about dialing-in by ear...touch sensitive crunch with tons of sparkle on hand, but can be darkened up with a little knob twist. Kinda like cooking with herbs and spices...for your ears! No compromise necessary: buy a guitar for each option you want. :D

Switchable cap option is subtle but killer. That’s on the old JS1200 Satriani model and it totally works. I did something similar in the form of an RC circuit and tweaked the One to its sweet spot. The sweep of the tone pot is literally as wide as a wah pedal. Pretty sweet.
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First thing I thought of was a concentric pot to preserve the aesthetics...
but, it's your gittar.

...waiting for the pinstriping for the win..... ;)
 
First thing I thought of was a concentric pot to preserve the aesthetics...
but, it's your gittar.

I would often agree. I usually do mods that are unobtrusive, but in this case I will like the aesthetics of the two knobs better. And I haven't hacked up a guitar before. Seemed like something I should do at least once in my life.

...waiting for the pinstriping for the win..... ;)

Nah this puppy is gonna be all go and no show.
 
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